Mary Straub on a mountain in the high Sierra Nevada

Mary Straub

Mary Straub completed her undergraduate training in biology at the University of California, San Diego after which she worked for several years in biomedical research at The Scripps Research Institute. She relocated to Davis to attend the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine receiving her DVM in 2010 and completing the Masters of Preventive Veterinary Medicine program in 2011. As part of her Master’s degree work Mary investigated the infectious diseases present in populations of scavenger birds, including the endangered California condor. Mary is now working on her PhD in Epidemiology. The focus of her research is the zoonotic disease leptospirosis. She is interested in understanding the epidemiology of leptospirosis in terrestrial wildlife species in California and determining the transmission patterns of leptospirosis between wildlife, domestic animals and humans.

In her free time Mary enjoys many outdoor activities such as birding, backpacking, rock climbing, gardening, fishing and snowboarding, and also enjoys just spending time at home in Davis with her partner John and their dog Max, cat Sophie, and chickens Pip and Squeak.